Then a freshman role player on a roster loaded with options, Stauskas missed seven of his eight shot attempts, including four 3-pointers. The fourth-seeded Wolverines as a whole weren't much better, going 23-for-57 from the field. The resulting 68-59 loss to fifth-seeded Wisconsin, sent Michigan back to Ann Arbor to await its Selection Sunday fate.

Everyone knows how that ended up -- a memorable trip to the national title game -- but U-M's 2013 NCAA tournament run doesn't erase the lessons of that loss to Wisconsin.

Michigan is heading back to the Big Ten tournament on Friday as the No. 1 seed. They'll face either eighth-seeded Illinois or ninth-seeded Indiana on Friday at Bankers Life Arena in Indianapolis (noon, TV: ESPN/ESPN2). The Fighting Illini and Hoosiers will square-off on Thursday at noon in the tournament's opening round.

"At this time of year, it really comes down to playing your best basketball -- peaking at the right time," Stauskas said Wednesday. "That’s what we did last year. I think we were very fortunate to start playing our best basketball in March."

The team did, at least.

Stauskas struggled. Other than a brilliant 6-for-6 performance from beyond the arc in a 22-point outing against Florida in the Elite Eight, Stauskas went 10-for-30 from the field in the NCAA tournament, including a 3-for-18 showing on 3-point attempts.

Now Stauskas is a sophomore. He's the Big Ten player of the year and clear-cut catalyst on a team heavily reliant upon his 17.4 point-per-game average.

Michigan is 19-2 when Stauskas scores 15 points or higher and 4-5 when he finishes with 14 or less.

"My shot was off (last postseason), I couldn’t get things to fall," Stauskas said. "This year, I think my confidence has been pretty high the whole time. My teammates and coaches have put a lot of trust in me and they keep giving me confidence even when I’m a little down on myself. Heading into the Big Ten Tournament and then the NCAA tournament, I’m feeling good about myself and I’m ready to play.”

Stauskas was 4-for-7 from the floor, including a pair of 3s, and scored 15 points to go with five rebounds in Michigan’s first-round Big Ten tournament win over Penn State last year.

Then things went awry.

On Wednesday, Stauskas said it was “maybe a combination of both” shaky confidence and fatigue that impacted him in the postseason.

"Obviously my role was a lot different last year," he added. "I think I can get into a rhythm by shooting a lot more. A lot of our offense ran through Trey (Burke) and Tim (Hardaway Jr.), so I was just taking any shot I could get open in the corner. There were some games I would only take five or six shots and it’s tough to get going like that.”

Most recently, Stauskas averaged 21.2 points on 13.6 field-goal attempts per game in Michigan's five-game winning streak to close the regular season.

Two of those performances came against Illinois and Indiana, one of which will face Michigan on Friday.

He torched the Illini for 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 7-of-9 3s, and scored 21 against the Hoosiers on 6-for-13 shooting.

It was all part of a closing stretch in a player-of-the-year campaign.

Now Stauskas will look to keep it going.

"To have the media’s approval and the coaches in the league, to have their approval, it means a lot," he said. "I’m just super excited right now.”

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com